Battle of Jieqiao

The Battle of Jieqiao, also known as the Battle of Jie Bridge, was fought between the warlords Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan in 191 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. It was the first significant clash of arms between the rival warlords in the contest for dominion of Ji and Qing provinces in northern China. The site of the battle is generally considered to be a site east of Guangzong County, Julu Commandery (present-day Wei County, Xingtai, Hebei).

Battle of Jieqiao
Part of the wars at the end of the Han dynasty
Date191
Location
Jieqiao (near present-day Wei County, Xingtai, Hebei, China)
Result Marginal victory by Yuan Shao
Belligerents
Yuan Shao Gongsun Zan
Commanders and leaders
Yuan Shao
Qu Yi
Tian Feng		 Gongsun Zan
Yan Gang †
Strength
40,000 infantry 30,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown, at least 1000
Battle of Jieqiao
Traditional Chinese界橋之戰
Simplified Chinese界桥之战

Background

Late in the winter of 191, following a victorious campaign against remnants of the Yellow Turban rebels, Gongsun Zan took the pretext of his cousin Gongsun Yue's death in the Battle of Yangcheng to declare war on Yuan Shao. His army marched southwest between the Qing and Yellow rivers into Ji Province. Very quickly a number of cities under Yuan's control were compelled to change sides. Yuan Shao hurriedly made conciliatory gestures, in a bid to forestall a full blown war. He gave his official position as Grand Administrator of Bohai to Gongsun Fan, a cousin of Gongsun Zan. Gongsun Fan, however, took the Bohai garrison to join his clansman.

The battle

Soon Yuan Shao himself came in force and the two sides met 40 km south of Jie Bridge, a crossing on the Qing River. Gongsun Zan's army had a reported strength of 40,000, consisting of 30,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. He arrayed his infantry in a square and divided his cavalry between the left and right wings. In the centre were placed his "white horse volunteers" (白馬義從), an elite mounted unit which formed the core of his fighting force. Whilst the numbers may have exaggerated, their appearance must have been impressive; Records of Three Kingdoms describes how their "flags and armour lit up Heaven and Earth". Though Yuan Shao's army was of comparable size, it consisted almost entirely of infantry. His commander Qu Yi was placed at the vanguard with 800 crack troops and 1,000 crossbowmen. Behind them stood masses of footsoldiers, numbering in the tens of thousands, commanded by Yuan Shao himself.[1]

Observing that Yuan's vanguard was thinly spread, Gongsun Zan ordered a charge by his cavalry. The aim was to "break the enemy line" - destroying the core of an opposing army and then rolling up its retreating multitudes. Qu Yi's men hid behind their shields and awaited the onslaught. When Gongsun's cavalry was a mere ten paces away, the crossbowmen loosed waves of bolts, followed by the footsoldiers, who rose with their spears. After a general melée the front of Yuan Shao's line was littered with fallen horses and Gongsun Zan's dead. Gongsun's general Yan Gang (嚴綱) was killed in the fighting. Yuan Shao's army is said to have taken 1,000 heads. Having failed to breach the enemy line, Gongsun's cavalry wheeled around and streamed away from the battle, followed by the infantry.[2]

Gongsun Zan attempted to rally and hold the line at the Qing River. His rearguard clashed with Qu Yi's men at Jie Bridge and were driven into retreat. The abandoned Gongsun camp was quickly overrun, its yak tail standard lost.[3]

Seeing that Gongsun was all but defeated, Yuan Shao advanced with a bodyguard of several tens of crossbowmen and a hundred men-at-arms. He was caught by surprise by 2,000 horsemen who had been detached from Gongsun Zan's main force. According to the Records of Three Kingdoms, the aide-de-camp Tian Feng was about to support Yuan Shao behind a low wall for refuge. Yuan threw his helmet to the ground, and said, "A real man should die in front of the ranks. To be idle behind a wall, that is no way to live!" The enemy horsemen, ignorant of Yuan Shao's identity, were beginning to withdraw when Qu Yi arrived on the scene to drive them away. This story, somewhat detached from the main battle sequence, emphasizes Yuan Shao's bravery.

Aftermath

The Battle of Jieqiao halted the southern advance of Gongsun Zan but it was by no means decisive in the protracted struggle between Gongsun and Yuan which lasted until 199. Gongsun returned a year later, in the winter of 192, along the same route. Even though the battle was a setback for Gongsun Zan, it did not significantly impact his army. Many of the soldiers who fled found their way back to Gongsun in the days and weeks after the battle.

The battle is unique in that it is described in detail in Records of Three Kingdoms. The arrangement of the armies and the tactics used, usually neglected by traditional Chinese histories, are reasonably clear. The battle demonstrates the ineffectiveness of even an experienced cavalry force against a disciplined infantry unit with competent leadership. It is also significant to note that although the numbers involved are very high, the actual fighting is decided by only a small elite portion of the entire army. Once the core was defeated, the demoralized masses quickly follow.

References
  1. 公孫瓚擊青州黃巾賊，大破之，還屯廣宗，改易守令，冀州長吏無不望風響應，開門受之。紹自往征瓚，合戰于界橋南二十里。瓚步兵三萬餘人為方陳，騎為兩翼，左右各五千餘匹，白馬義從為中堅，亦分作兩校，左射右，右射左，旌旗鎧甲，光照天地。義久在涼州，曉習羌鬥，兵皆驍銳。瓚見其兵少，便放騎欲陵蹈之。義兵皆伏楯下不動，未至數十步，乃同時俱起，揚塵大叫，直前衝突，彊弩雷發，所中必倒，臨陳斬瓚所署冀州刺史嚴綱甲首千餘級。令麴義以八百兵為先登，彊弩千張夾承之，紹自以步兵數萬結陳于後。瓚軍敗績，步騎奔走，不復還營。義追至界橋；瓚殿兵還戰橋上，義復破之，遂到瓚營，拔其牙門，營中餘眾皆復散走。
    Rough translation: Yuan Shao moved to attack Gongsun Zan and the two sides met in battle twenty li south of Jie Bridge. Gongsun Zan had thirty thousand foot soldiers in square formation and ten thousand horsemen split into left and right wings. His White Cavalry Volunteers followed in the center. They split in two, the left riding right, and the right riding left. Their armour and flags shined with brilliance, lighting up heaven and earth. Yuan Shao sent Qu Yi against them with eight hundred soldiers while a thousand crossbowmen on either side supported his advance. Yuan Shao himself led tens of thousands of soldiers from the rear. Qu Yi had resided in Liangzhou for a long time and was familiar with the way of war as practiced by the Qiang tribes. Seeing Qu Yi's small force, Gongsun Zan sent cavalry to crush them. Qu Yi's troops hid behind their shields and made no move until the enemy were ten or twenty yards away; then they leapt up together, their cries shaking the ground, rushing forward with crossbows shooting bolts like thunder, killing all who were struck, and completely defeated Gongsun Zan's army...... killing more than a thousand armed men, Yuan Shao's troops maintained their pursuit to Jie Bridge. Gongsun Zan rallied his troops to turn and fight, but Qu Yi again defeated them. Reaching Gongsun Zan's camp, they captured his standard and the rest of his army took to flight.
  2. 公孫瓚擊青州黃巾賊，大破之，還屯廣宗，改易守令，冀州長吏無不望風響應，開門受之。紹自往征瓚，合戰于界橋南二十里。瓚步兵三萬餘人為方陳，騎為兩翼，左右各五千餘匹，白馬義從為中堅，亦分作兩校，左射右，右射左，旌旗鎧甲，光照天地。義久在涼州，曉習羌鬥，兵皆驍銳。瓚見其兵少，便放騎欲陵蹈之。義兵皆伏楯下不動，未至數十步，乃同時俱起，揚塵大叫，直前衝突，彊弩雷發，所中必倒，臨陳斬瓚所署冀州刺史嚴綱甲首千餘級。令麴義以八百兵為先登，彊弩千張夾承之，紹自以步兵數萬結陳于後。瓚軍敗績，步騎奔走，不復還營。義追至界橋；瓚殿兵還戰橋上，義復破之，遂到瓚營，拔其牙門，營中餘眾皆復散走。
  3. 公孫瓚擊青州黃巾賊，大破之，還屯廣宗，改易守令，冀州長吏無不望風響應，開門受之。紹自往征瓚，合戰于界橋南二十里。瓚步兵三萬餘人為方陳，騎為兩翼，左右各五千餘匹，白馬義從為中堅，亦分作兩校，左射右，右射左，旌旗鎧甲，光照天地。義久在涼州，曉習羌鬥，兵皆驍銳。瓚見其兵少，便放騎欲陵蹈之。義兵皆伏楯下不動，未至數十步，乃同時俱起，揚塵大叫，直前衝突，彊弩雷發，所中必倒，臨陳斬瓚所署冀州刺史嚴綱甲首千餘級。令麴義以八百兵為先登，彊弩千張夾承之，紹自以步兵數萬結陳于後。瓚軍敗績，步騎奔走，不復還營。義追至界橋；瓚殿兵還戰橋上，義復破之，遂到瓚營，拔其牙門，營中餘眾皆復散走。

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